


Stockholm Syndrome

by narcissistiqve



Category: Diabolik Lovers
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hemophobia, Love, Stockholm Syndrome, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:20:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 12,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29019615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narcissistiqve/pseuds/narcissistiqve
Summary: in which an optimistic girl find herself in awe with the vampire that kidnapped her for the sole purpose of fulfilling the plan of adam.
Relationships: Mukami Ruki/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	1. Prologue

_Adam and Eve — they are the first people created by god to live on the earth peacefully until the snake tempted Eve to bite into the apple of truth whereupon the world was filled with nothing but pain. But in between all this despair comes along a little chunk of hope..._

_* * *_

"It's hopeless, they don't seem to make any progress", a male with quite long, white pinkish hair sighed. his golden eyes were the most notable compared to this man's extremely pale skin.

"What's the problem?", a young man asked. He had a quite handsome face, ruffled black hair with a hint of white at the tips and dim greyish blue eyes yet he had a rather stoic expression plastered on his face.

"Denial. Adam and Eve both deny their feelings, it's quite bothersome", the white haired male told the other with yet another sigh. "My plan can't progress that way." The tall man folded his hands together as he went into a thinking posture. "However", he continued with eyes closed, a smile curving itself on his pale lips. "This girl... This girl who has become friends with Eve, she does come in quite handy."

The black haired just nodded every now and then while the other complained, his eyes focused on this man. He rose a brow when he mentioned this unknown girl, though. "How so?", he asked with curiosity in his voice. The white haired male looked up at him as a hasty chuckle escaped his lips. "You do know the story of Adam and Eve, no? The moment Eve bit into the apple the snake tempted her to eat, both parties started to realize the true, cruel nature of this world", he explained in a calm tone. "So, in other words, _she_ can help Adam and Eve to realize their true feelings."

Understanding, the black haired male nodded politely. He was quite a good mannered person, which was clearly visible not just by the way he spoke but also the way he behaved, his straight composure and his calm gestures. An aristocrat? Very likely. "Might I make a suggestion?", he suddenly asked and put a hand on his hip. "Please, let my brothers and me go down to the human world and meet Eve."

The other man seemed rather puzzled by his sudden request yet he knew that he wouldn't stop talking just there. After all, this man standing in front of him was quite smart himself, so he simply smiled at him, patiently waiting for him to continue speaking.

"We will be the snakes to tempt Eve to take the apple, so that the plan can progress." Now that was what the white haired seemed to like. His smile grew bigger as he chuckled, nodding at the idea. "That should work", he gave his statement to the idea. "But how do you plan to proceed?" The black haired seemed to be prepared to his answer — he surely wasn't surprised or caught off guard at all. "Eve's friend, the apple of this plan, if we take her away from Eve, she will come for it again, won't she? So, if Adam really does love her, he should feel jealousy of the apple that gets more of Eve's attention than he does — and jealousy always comes from love."

A very reasonable plan that he had come up with within a few minutes, which was quite remarkable. "Interesting, very interesting", the white haired murmured under his breath, nodding. "I think, I get your point", he then exclaimed, clasping his hands together. "Alright, I will allow you to go the human world then", he gave permission to him. With a light smile curved on the black haired male's stoic face, he thanked the other sincerely. "I'll tell my brothers about it", he told him as he quickly left the quite luxurious looking room.

**— —** _"I know you won't disappoint me,_ ** _Ruki_** _."_

* * *

"What? We're really going to the human world?", a blonde boy with sky blue orbs asked, tilting his head as he did so. "Exactly, we will meet Eve", the black haired male repeated himself for the third time now. "Eve..... I'm sure she...... is a lovely.... woman.....", a teal haired boy muttered to himself in a quiet && slow manner. "Tch... and what's the point in meeting her?", a very tall one with brown hair tied into a man bun exclaimed a bit irritated. "It is to fulfill _his_ desire", the leader, apparently, explained once again calmly to the other three males.

Upon mentioning _him_ , the three of them fell silent. They looked at each other yet they didn't have to say a single word. They all knew what each of them were thinking — they were obliged to do it to show gratitude to this man. _This man who had saved their lives_.

"Alriiight", the blonde said in a whining manner, crossing his arms behind his head. He leaned his head back as he let out a sigh. "Let's do it if it helps _him_." Wordlessly, the other two agreed with him.

"Well then, pack your things, we will be leaving soon", the black haired then told them sternly before leaving to his room. He only needed a few things, mostly clothing. But there was this picture — this picture of a young, aristocratic boy with a mother and a father who looked so happy. Even though it brings nothing but the feeling of loneliness, he simply couldn't part from it for some reason. Gritting his teeth, he carefully put it into his luggage as his thoughts slowly but slowly drifted off to what will come in the future.

**— —** _"I won't betray you,_ ** _Karlheinz_** _."_

_* * *_

**_PROLOGUE END_ **


	2. Chapter I

"Yui, Yui, Yui!!" A petite raven haired girl called out after her best friend, Yui Komori — a blonde girl the same age as her with eyes of pink color. She was a very polite and refined girl, unlike the ravenette. Her name was **Riri Kurosawa** — the probably most positive, optimistic and cheerful girl amongst the second year students of Ryoutei Academy High School. Nobody really disliked her and she was truly a ray of sunshine yet nobody was really friends with her either. Luckily, she had Yui who had just transferred to this school yet the raven haired simply knew — it may sound naive — that the blonde was of trustful nature.

With quick steps, she made her way towards her friend, putting her arms around her shoulder and pulling her into a tight embrace that had caught the blonde off guard. "Ah, Riri, be careful!", she told her, a quiet chuckle escaping her lips. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself!", the raven haired claimed, giggling as she squished Yui's soft cheeks. "R-Riri, stop it, please!", the blonde girl whined yet couldn't help but chuckle at this girl's cheerfulness. "But they're so soooft", Riri pouted, crossing her arms in front of her chest playfully. Quietly, the blonde giggled to herself, holding tightly onto her bag. "Hey, hey, Yui, do you have time to stay a bit longer and do homework with me?", the ravenette wanted to know, intending to spend some time with her after classes.

Even though Riri considered her as a close friend, they didn't get to spend a lot of time together since Yui would always have an excuse not to meet with her, mostly that she had to return home immediately. It was a mystery to the dark haired girl but then again, it was rumored that this girl lived with the Sakamaki family — more specifically with the six Sakamaki brothers who were also quite known at school. The third years Shuu and Reiji, the two oldest of them all, the triplets Ayato Laito and Kanato who were also second years like Yui and Riri and the youngest, Subaru, a first year. However, they didn't seem to have any friends at school nor have the intention to make any friends at all hence why they often seemed quite intimidating to others.

"I'm really sorry but I can't", the blonde apologized with a light bow to the head to show that she was being sincere. "Maybe another day!", she added quickly though to hopefully cheer her friend up a bit. "It's alright, don't apologize, eheh~!", the ravenette claimed with a quite unexpected, understanding tone. "One day I'm sure we'll be able to meet up after school!", she added, her hazel eyes shining in hope as she gave Yui a bright smile.

"Take care, Yui!", she then told the blonde before she ran off to head home herself while still looking back and waving her friend goodbye. Suddenly, she felt the impact of her body colliding with someone else's. She should have watched where she was going. Stumbling back, the female tried to regain her balance as she quickly looked up at a tall, quite handsome black haired male. Probably a third year student Riri hadn't seen before. "I'm so sorry!", she quickly apologized, bowing her head politely.

_No reply._

Slowly, the petite girl looked up into a pair of greyish blue orbs, staring sternly at her. They were pretty for sure but at the same time really intimidating, too. As if this boy tried to look into her soul.

**_— —_** _"_ ** _Apple_** _."_

His voice was deep and calm. "What..?", the female questioned, tilting her head to the side in confusion. Out of nowhere, another boy appeared, a blonde one, and soon after, a brown haired and a teal haired had appeared, too. "Is that her?", the blonde one asked, his voice being quite cheerful and happy unlike the dark haired's. "Tch, she looks stupid", the really tall one with the brown hair that was tied into a man bun huffed with a rather aggressive tone. "Huh...?" The raven haired girl was clearly confused and perplexed, not knowing what they wanted from her. "Hey... Apple...", the teal haired boy must have sneaked behind the girl while she wasn't paying attention to him. He spoke quiet and slowly as he put his hands on her shoulder. Scared, Riri let out a shriek, immediately turning around. "What... What do you want from me?", she questioned them, looking from one boy to the other. She didn't know who to look at, all four of them at once confused the girl so very much.

"Yuma, get her." The black haired spoke again. Right the second after, the petite girl could feel her feet lifting from the floor, only the tips of her toes were still on the floor. "What are you—" She couldn't even finish her sentence before a hand covered her mouth. "Don't be so loud, little kitty~", the blonde boy hummed, grinning mischievously. Despite her arms being restrained and her mouth being forced shut, the female still tried to struggle to get out of the tall boy's grip — unsuccessfully. She was too weak to put up a fight against these four.

"Involving someone so innocent..." The dark haired was talking as he approached the female, his dim orbs locking with her hazel ones. "Quite cruel, I must say."

With all these strangers restraining the girl from any actions, telling her things she didn't understand — it was just natural that she would start to panick. Sure, she had stopped struggling since it was no use anyway but instead, she started to take more and more quick yet deep breaths, she started to hyperventilate. Just who were they and what business did they have with her? So many questions came to Riri's mind before her vision became all black.

* * *

It was completely silent. Just the sound of single water drops hitting the floor of stone could be heard. It was quite a soothing sound to listen to while slowly regaining consciousness, no? The raven haired girl slowly opened one eye. It was rather dark but a few torches lightened the room, giving off a very mysterious vibe. "Where...", she murmured under her breath as her second eye shut open at the sight of iron bars lined up in frequent intervals.

**_— —_** _"A... prison cell?!"_

Terrified, Riri stood up and went to the iron bars, somehow trying to escape by shaking and kicking against them. "What in the world is going on?", she questioned to herself since nobody seemed to be there to hear her. Her feeling of terror soon turned into pure anger as she kicked against the bars whereupon a stinging pain ran through her right leg. "Ouch...", she whined, sitting down on the cold floor.

This was the work of these four boys, no doubt. But why, just why did four high school students have a dungeon where they could lock people up and why would they do that in the first place? It just didn't make any sense to her.

"Oh, look, she's finally awake!", a cheery voice echoed through the dark. "Who—", the girl started to speak up but quieted down once she saw the four boys from earlier. Skeptically, she rose a brow, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Are you...?", she then finally posed her question as her gaze wandered from person to person. The blonde boy let out a chuckle, leaning down a little to be more on the same height as the female. "We completely forgot to introduce ourselves, didn't we?", he said, laughing quietly to himself. "I'm Kou Mukami. Pleasure to meet you, little kitty~"

"I'm...." The teal haired took the girls hand through the iron bars, though she withdrew it the moment she felt his cold fingers simply out of shock. "Azusa.... Mukami....."

"Tch... Yuma Mukami." The tall, brunette was clearly uninterested not just by the way he spoke but also by the way he stood there.

At last, the female's hazel orbs landed on the black haired male. The one who seemed to be in control of them.

**_— —_** _"I'm_ ** _Ruki Mukami_** _."_

Riri blinked a couple of times. She needed to process all their names and the general situation she was in. "You're... related..?", she wondered, having noticed that all of them go by "Mukami". "We're brothers!", Kou told her cheerfully, giving her a rather warm smile. "Not blood related but we're still brothers."

The girl frowned, skeptical. "And... where am I..?", the ravenette asked them quietly. "The Mukami...... mansion......", Azusa spoke with his slow voice. "The dungeon of our mansion, to be exact", Ruki added quickly. "A dungeon...?" Was Riri having a really bad dream? She softly slapped her cheeks to make sure that this horrible scenario was just fiction but it sadly wasn't. "You're joking... right...?", she wanted to know, her voice shaking in fear. "Why did you kid... kidnap me? What for?!"

The four brothers remained awkwardly silent. "Tch, this is getting irritating", Yuma scoffed, gritting his teeth. "Let's just get to the point", he huffed, turning his back on her. The black haired male nodded as he stepped forward, his sharp, intimidating gaze falling down on the petite female, showing no signs of sympathy or empathy at all.

**_— —_** _"Your only purpose is to_ ** _stay_** _here."_

His voice was calm and collected but his words cold and harsh.

**_— —_** _"That's..! Why are you treating me so... so..._ ** _inhumanly_** _?!"_

Silence.

"Oh, we forgot to mention we're vampires, didn't we?", the blonde suddenly mentioned, giving her a big grin to reveal sharp fangs. "Vam... pires..?" This couldn't be true, right? Vampires didn't exist, right? "That's... you're joking... vampires are fictional creatures, aren't they?!"

Silence, once more.

**_— —_** _"Let's go."_

Without answering the girl's question, the Mukamis turned their back on her, leaving her all alone in the dark, cold dungeon.

"Wait, don't leave! Answer me! Please!" Riri stood up, reaching her hand out to them through the iron bars in the hopes that they'd come back to answer her questions.

**_— —_** _"I need answers..._ ** _Please_** _!!"_  
  


* * *

⠀ ⠀ ⠀


	3. Chapter I . one

**—** **_—_ ** _"Vampires... Vampires... Vam... pires...? Gah, that's absolute nonsense!! What kind of gothic... satanic... maniacal household_ **_is_ ** _this??"_

Frustrated, Riri kicked once more against the iron bars just to feel a stinging pain running through her leg. "Ow... I'll have so many bruises by the end of the... whenever and I don't even know what they'll do to me... or if they'll do something to me in the first place... or how long they'll keep me here." She took a deep breath as she kicked against the bars once more in the hopes it would break since they look pretty old but unfortunately, they seemed to be quite sturdy.

**_— —_** _"Why... Why is this happening to_ ** _me_** _..?"_

The raven haired girl calmed down, sitting down on the cold floor of stone as she let out a heavy sigh. She leaned her back against the equally cold wall, taking deep breaths. "I haven't done anything to them, did I..?", she questioned with a shaky voice. For a couple of minutes she did nothing but sitting there and breathing until she heard the sound of faint footsteps. With high hopes, her hazel eyes widened as she patiently waited.

It was Ruki.

He had a plate with food on it in his hand as he made his way towards the cell. "Here", he simply said coldly as he opened the cell door a little to put the porcelain plate carefully on the floor.

"Why would I eat that?" The female rose a brow skeptically, clearly not trusting him in the slightest. The food could be poisoned after all and Riri didn't plan on dying soon, especially not in such a horrible place like this dungeon. "It's not poisoned", the black haired told her with a stoic expression as if he had just read her mind. "I don't care if you eat or not but we need you alive, for now", he stated coldly. "What do you mean with... 'for now', though..?", the girl asked obviously scared. "I don't... get this... why are you keeping me locked up in here?", she posed the question from earlier, hoping she would get an answer from him this time. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.

"Our doing is none of your business, so stop being so nosy", he replied, completely avoiding her questions. Despite being very scared by the very tense atmosphere, the ravenette couldn't help but starting to feel anger. Why wouldn't he just answer her or at least give her some hints? "I won't stop being nosy until you give me a proper answer!", she pouted, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

That feisty attitude was definitely not to Ruki's liking. He was angered but it was hard to tell just by his facial expression for he seemed to always remain a calm demeanor. "Talking that ill-mannered to your superiors, it seems that you need to be disciplined", he then claimed as he walked up to the petite girl with a dangerous glare.

"Disciplined..?" Within seconds, she regretted having put up a fight against him in a fit of anger. The feeling of fear returned to her as she slowly backed away, though she unfortunately was stopped by the wall behind her. "What are you going to..." She didn't even dare to finish her sentence. Her legs were shaking in fear of what he could do to her.

Ruki remained quiet. Silence had never felt so unbearably intimidating and terrifying like now. He came to a halt right in front of the rather short girl, towering over her as he grabbed both of her wrists forcefully and pinned her against the wall. "Ow..!", Riri winced in pain. The impact was quite fierce. Her breathing became very quick again as well as her heartbeat.

The black haired male let out a quiet sigh as he let go of her left wrist and put a strand of her raven black hair behind her ear, which did confuse the female quite a lot. "What are you... doing?", she wanted to know with a meek voice. "If _you_ won't listen to me, then I'll make _your body_ submit to me", he told her sternly, his facial expression not changing in the slightest. "What..?! H-How.....?"

Riri wasn't sure if she really wanted to know what he was going to do with her but on the other hand, if she did know about it, she could at least mentally prepare herself for what was to come. "How?" It was a rhetorical question, no doubt. "I don't have my whip with me right now so I suppose I will take your blood instead", he replied eerily calmly.

**_— —_** _"My..._ ** _blood_** _...?"_

Right, that blonde boy, Kou, did mention that they were vampires but he was just joking, right? "What do you mean?", the raven haired wanted to know desperately as she tried to somehow push him away from her which was impossible when he restrained her arms like that. "I'm a vampire, did you forget that already?", Ruki sighed, slightly shaking his head in disappointment. Riri couldn't help but frown at his statement. Surely she remembered it but there was no way she would believe him so easily. "But vampires don't... exist... no, it's... it's impossible..!", she muttered under her breath, shaking her head in disbelief.

**_— —_** _"You still don't believe in vampires, do you?"_

The petite female looked up into his cold blue eyes, shaking her head frantically once again. "Of course, I don't!", she exclaimed, her voice cracking mid-sentence as if she was about to break out into tears. "Then I'll just prove you vampires _do_ exist", the dark haired male spoke in his calm demeanor as he leaned close to her neck. "N-No!!"

Despite all her effort she put into struggling, it was no use. She could feel a pair of fangs piercing through her skin, as well as a stinging pain. "It hurts...", she murmured while still trying to push him away somehow. Feeling the loss of blood, however, triggered the poor girls biggest fear — hemophobia, the fear of blood. "S-Stop, please..!", she literally begged him at this point in a breathy manner. "The more you move, the more it'll hurt", he told her indifferently, pulling away the moment he noticed that Riri had started to hyperventilate, although the girl felt like she was suffocating in this exact moment. He let go of her, his expression as stoic as ever while he watched her panicking, covering her neck with her hands while mumbling "stop" over and over again with the most terrified expression until she fainted and her body collapsed to the floor.

**_— —_** _"Know your place,_ ** _livestock_** _."_  
  


* * * 

⠀ ⠀ ⠀


	4. Chapter I . two

The sound of waterdrops hitting the cold floor of stone — it was surely getting annoying after a while. Slowly, Riri awoke to the sound of it after she had fainted due to hyperventilating a little while ago. Seeing the vampire sitting there, watching over her, however, did make her flinch. In a panicked state, she immediately covered her neck with her hands, shivering as she looked down on her feet to avoid his cold greyish blue eyes.

"Ah, you're finally awake", he noticed, his head turning to the terrified female. "Why... are you still here..?", she asked whispering. "I told you I need you alive, so I stayed to make sure you'll eat your food once you wake up although it's cold by now", he told her in his usual calm manner. "And it's still not poisoned", he added quickly before the female could even open her mouth to argue with him. Riri's hazel orbs glanced over to the plate on the floor. It was unexpectedly more than she had expected — a whole dish of Vongole Bianco. Enough for her stomach to be filled.

"Thank... you", a quiet thanks escaped her pale lips as she hesitantly took the fork that he must have brought, too. The atmosphere was awkward and tense. Ruki was watching the ravenette eating basically the entire time, which was quite nervous wrecking for the short female yet she shouldn't complain considering that she did get some food, so she could survive in her current situation.

Skeptically, Riri let out a sigh before she took a bite — and it was unexpectedly really delicious despite the food being cold. "This is so... delicious..!", she muttered to herself as her lips curved itself into a slight smile. "Who cooked that..?", the raven haired asked Ruki, her hazel orbs shining in curiosity. "I did", the male answered her indifferently. "Wait, really?"

His reply was quite surprising for her.

"What? Is it so weird for a man to cook?" His voice seemed kind of annoyed, which was quite a lot of emotions coming from him. "No, no, that's not what I meant!", she quickly denied his question, a little bit embarrassed about her reaction. "I guess, I just have... never met one who can..!", she let out a quiet giggle as she took another bite of it, enjoying it very much.

**_— —_** _"I'm really..._ ** _impressed_** _."_

The vampire remained silent while he let the girl eat the rest of her food. Riri did enjoy her meal yet she couldn't help but feel a little insecure. Even though she was told it was not poisoned, she had a vague belief that he might have lied to her but there was nothing she could do against it now.

"Are you scared of blood?", Ruki suddenly asked out of nowhere, changing the topic. The question sure did hit a weak spot of hers. "You... noticed that?", she questioned quietly, turning her head to the male. "Of course, it's obvious." His reply was acrimonious. The ravenette was hesitant but she slowly nodded her head. She carefully put the fork on the empty plate as she went back to lean her back against the wall, playing with her fingers anxiously. "How unfortunate", he simply claimed, turning to her as he pinned her to the wall. "What—"

Her anxiety had returned and she would love to push him away if she had the strength to push a full grown man away. "No, no, no, leave me alone..!", she pleaded him, closing her eyes in fear. "Confronting your fears head on helps you get over them, you know that, don't you?", Ruki mentioned calmly as he moved the girl's long, black hair away from her neck. "You should be grateful to get personal therapy", he whispered into her ear before he leaned down to her neck, biting her. Riri flinched from the sudden pain as she tried to push him away from her with her weak, shaking arms but all she could do was clench on the soft fabric of his maroon colored shirt. "It... hurts...", she whined, tears forming in her eyes.

Naturally, she would start to hyperventilate this time as well — a fear couldn't be overcome so easily after all. It wasn't even the amount of blood that she lost that she fainted, it was all due to her hyperventilating, due to her severe fear of blood.

**_— —_** _"Why is this..._ ** _real_** _..?"_   
  


* * * 

⠀⠀


	5. Chapter I . three

**_— —_** _"I wonder how long it will take me until I go_ ** _insane_** _..."_

Ever since Riri had been kept captive in the Mukami family's dungeon, she had had a lot of thoughts, especially about how it was possible that supernatural creatures such as vampires really did exist. It was just natural to start thinking more when she was all alone and had nothing else to do. "Vampires... do exist..." As she muttered those words repeatedly to herself, she touched her neck and felt the slowly healing bite marks, four in total. "But I still do wonder what they want from me?", she continued wondering to herself, tilting her head as she did so.

**_— —_** _"I'm just a_ ** _plain_** **_normal_** **_girl_** _..?"_

Her own thoughts started to genuinely irritate her, so she gently slapped her cheeks to get herself out of thoughts. "Gah, come on, you should try to escape instead of thinking about this!", the ravenette encouraged herself as she stood up and ran against the door with all the power she had. Unsuccessfully. "Ow, ow, ow", she whimpered as she held her right shoulder. She had bruises on it everywhere yet she wouldn't stop trying to somehow break the door open if that was even possible.

"Gah, this is so frustrating!!", she yelled out, hitting the iron bars with her bare hands once more. It hurt but she managed to push the feeling of pain away in her state of pure anger. So, she decided to take a break and sit down for another while, though her entire body was aching. "I just want to go home..."

Tears started rolling down her face as she leaned her head against the cold wall, hugging her legs as she sat there. Overwhelmed with too many emotions at the same time, she closed her eyes, hoping that she would fall asleep soon. She couldn't do much anyway, so sleeping seemed like the most convenient thing to do.

"You're being very noisy." Ruki's calm voice echoed through the dark dungeon, catching the girl's attention. However, she remained silent, simply staring into the male's sharp greyish blue orbs. "I'm literally locked up in a dungeon, can you blame me for being noisy?", she argued, crossing her arms in front of her chest. He didn't say anything more, he just put down her daily plate of food on the floor for her.

Frustrated, Riri looked at the food, her hazel orbs looked dull and unmotivated. She didn't seem to want to eat anything, rejecting his actually pretty kind gesture by turning her head away. "Noisy _and_ bothersome", the vampire mumbled as he let out a sigh. "Why do you need me alive?", the girl suddenly asked. "What if I starved myself to death now?"

Truth be spoken, she was quite surprised how unfazed and emotionless he reacted. "There are a lot more ways to kill yourself that include less suffering than starvation, even in your situation right now", he stated coldly, not even hesitating to speak his mind. "If you really do want to die so badly, I don't mind assisting you to death either", the black haired added, showing no sympathy at all.

"No!" Hearing him say that made her realize that she did treasure her life a lot after all yet she was still playing with the thought of starving herself until something would happen — it could be answers, it could be her freedom. "Then eat", Ruki ordered her, his patience running low.

Riri shook her head, still refusing to eat.

The male let out a heavy sigh as he picked up a fresh tomato from the plate, holding it in front of Riri's mouth. "What are you—" She backed away, turning her head away from him. "I'm not letting myself get fed by you!", she pouted, letting out a quiet huff. "You're giving your master so much trouble", he sighed once again, shaking his head. "Master..? Why are you addressing yourself as—"

Everything happened too quick for the girl to even realize what had happened but what she knew for sure was that she felt his lips on hers. And a tomato being put into her mouth that way.

The girl's face grew red in an instant as she pushed him away. Before speaking up, she forcefully ate the really fresh tasting tomato. "Why did you do that?!", she wanted to know, embarrassed.

Ruki was clearly unfazed, he just had his typical stoic expression on his face. "So you would eat your food, I thought that was obvious", he sighed. "But that was... was... inappropriate!", the ravenette complained, covering her reddened face behind her hands. With no reaction at all, the vampire looked down on her. "Then eat up", he told her with a serious tone, "unless you want me to feed you." Frantically, the girl shook her head and hesitantly took the plate.

Riri wasn't exactly sure why but somehow, she just didn't feel like eating. Maybe she had set her mind into starving herself too much to the point that she felt sick at the thought of eating something yet she didn't want to get in trouble with Ruki either — she found herself in quite a dilemma. Not to disappoint him, she took another tomato and slowly ate it. In the blink of an eye, the female didn't see the male's shadow on the floor anymore. Looking up, she noticed that he was gone for real.

"This darkness... makes me feel sick...", the raven haired girl mumbled under her breath as she put the plate away, refusing to eat more than those two tomatoes.

**_— —_** _"It can't take long until I go insane here,_ ** _that's for sure_** _..."_  
  


* * * 

⠀ ⠀


	6. Chapter I . four

**_— —_** _"It's so cold..."_

Shivering, Riri was curled up in the corner of the cell and hugged her legs tightly. The only thing that kept herself warm was her own body heat at this point. She hadn't had eaten all of her food, so she definitely was a bit hungry but she simply ignored her hunger, keeping herself busy with thoughts about various things — there was enough for her to worry about.

However, her thoughts were interrupted when she heard footsteps, once again, yet they were different than before. They were heavier. With hope in her hazel orbs, she looked up to, in fact, see a different face for a change — it was Yuma. Slightly confused, the girl tilted her head to the side as she saw how the tall male put another plate of food next to the other one which was still full, actually.

"Hah?!", he suddenly yelled, his loud voice echoing through the dark hall as his gaze fell on the ravenette shivering in the corner. "We're so generous to give you food and you don't even touch it?", he shouted at her quite angrily. It was true that it was a waste of food but she couldn't help it — she was going to pull her plan to starve herself until a change would happen through and she surely didn't care if she was going to die because of it. Ruki may had a point that she could have killed herself without suffering that much already but she had put her mind into it. So, no matter what anyone said, she would stubbornly go her ways.

Riri remained silent, looking down on the tips of her shoes again. They had become quite dirty over all this time staying in the dungeon. "Don't ignore me!", Yuma continued yelling at her angrily, hitting the iron bars with his bare hand. The girl flinched from the loud noise and looked up at the male. Her eyes were dull and incredibly lifeless, her skin had a sickly pale color.

"Oi, you look really sick", the vampire noted, though it didn't seem like he actually cared about her health. "Obviously", the girl inaudibly muttered under her breath, sighing as she buried her face into her knees. "What did you say?", he asked, raising his voice. "Obviously!", she spoke up. Her voice was still quiet but loud enough for the male to hear. "So, you're suffering on purpose, huh?"

The girl nodded slowly. "Dead or alive, I don't matter to you at all, right?", she questioned, though it was more directed to herself than to Yuma. "You could kill yourself in a lot faster way, you know that, right?", the brunette wanted to know, his brown orbs locked on the girl. "I do", she told him as she looked up once more, a sudden, determined expression in her eyes.

**_— —_** _"But as long as I have_ ** _hope_** _, I won't stop believing that a change_ ** _will_** _happen."_

Despite her eyes being rather dull and lifeless, her expression showed how serious she was. Her reply was quite unexpected for the male whose eyes simply widened in surprise. "Tch... That's foolish", he scoffed as he turned his head away from her. "I know, it sounds foolish... naive...", the raven haired continued speaking, her eyes still focused on the tall male. "But I don't care. I will keep my hopes up until the very end."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever", Yuma said in a bored tone, waving his hand dismissively to show that he didn't care what she had to say. "All we need is your body's existence, doesn't matter dead or alive." Those were his last words before he left, leaving her alone in the dungeon again.

**_— —_** _"My body's..._ ** _existence_** _...?"_

These words kept repeating itself in Riri's mind. Now that was something worth thinking about. "So they only need my body, not any money or anything like that... I think..?", she wondered, a small frown appearing on her face as she reflected on the new information she had just received.

**_— —_** _"I wonder why... or maybe even..._ ** _what for_** _..?"_  
  


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	7. Chapter I . five

**_— —_** _"How many days has it been since they've_ ** _locked_** _me up here..?"_

With eyes closed, Riri tried to fall asleep to save her energy in case she was really going to starve herself until something happened. She had lost any sense of time due to the constant darkness in the dungeon that slowly but slowly did drive her insane.

**_— —_** _"_ ** _The blue sky_** _... I want to see it... just_ ** _one more time_** _..."_

Call it hallucination or not but in that moment, the raven haired girl could see that night sky that she had always loved to look at while going to school clearly as she subconsciously reached her hand out to it as if she tried to grab it.

However, the moment she opened her eyes again, all she saw was that exact same scenario she had seen for the past few hours, days. The dirty ground, the water dripping down the ceiling, the sound of single waterdrops hitting the floor of stone, the rusty iron bars of the cell, the few torches that kept the dungeon illuminated — nothing has changed in the slightest. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as a single tear ran down her cheek.

**_— —_** _"Why..?_ ** _Why_** _.....?"_

Within seconds the ravenette broke into tears, she couldn't stop them from falling anymore. "Why... why, why, why, why?!" In a fit of anger, she repeatedly hit the floor with her fists until they even started bleeding, which was quite inconsiderate of her. When she saw the red liquid slowly running down the side of her hand, her anger became nothing but panic.

"Oh no, what have I done?", she asked herself, mentally cursing to herself for why she acted so recklessly. "I can't treat it, I... I..." Not knowing what to do, she looked around, hoping that she might find some sort of bandage but there wasn't one and there probably won't be one in the near future as well.

**_— —_** _"This place is driving me_ ** _crazy_** _!!"_

On the verge of tears, the girl simply closed her eyes to avoid the red color on her hands as she shook her head frantically, almost maniacally as if she was high on drugs. "Make this bad nightmare come to an end, please!!", she yelled through the dungeon, her words directed to someone, anyone, who could possibly get her out of this misery.

The touch of an icy hand gave the raven haired more hope than it should have — it was just Ruki after all. He had taken Riri's bleeding hands into his, his mouth close to her wound so that she could feel his breath on her skin as he licked the blood off of her hand and arm.

A dark blush crept onto the female's face as she felt his cold tongue on her skin, clearly embarrassed about his actions. "Wh-What are you doing—", she wanted to know meekly, trying to pull her hand out of his grasp out of reflex. The vampire's dim blue eyes briefly looked into her hazel ones before he focused back on her wound, licking it once more before replying to her question.

"I'm not letting your blood go to waste", was his answer as he put down her one arm, now about to lick the blood off of her other injured hand. "You should be grateful since I'm also stopping the bleeding for you, it's a win-win-situation", he stated calmly while continuing his doing. "Right, now that you mention it...", the girl noticed quite surprised since she couldn't think clearly in her state of panic.

"Thank... you", she quietly muttered under her breath, waiting for the male to release her hands but he somehow wouldn't let go of them. "Your wrists are skinnier than before", he noted while he kept looking at her hands. "They are?" Riri tilted her head in confusion, not understanding why he pointed that out. His sharp eyes were gazing intently into hers, a hint of sadness visible.

"These eyes, so dull and empty", he mumbled to himself as he grabbed her chin with his index finger and his thumb, making her look at him. "The eyes of someone who desires death yet death won't come for them", he said indifferently as ever yet Riri could tell that he must be speaking from experience.

**_— —_** _"How_ ** _pitiful_** _."_

Right after finishing his sentence, Ruki pushed her down, pinning her to the floor. "Ah, no!" The ravenette gasped, trying to get him off of her with no success. "Let me go!", she told him with a shaky voice, her fear getting to her. When he was like this, he was most likely going to drink her blood — a thought Riri surely didn't approve of. "It's true, isn't it?", he posed his question, ignoring her. "And what if it was?", the petite girl huffed, struggling to shake him off. The way he was staring into her eyes was really intimidating. "How much do you really want to die?", he questioned in a somewhat provoking manner. "I can grant you your wish", he added, whispering.

Silence.

For a moment, the girl really was playing with the thought of giving her life into his hands. She didn't move at all as she gave his offer a second thought. Has the time for her really come already?

"That silence, it seems that you have chosen death", Ruki claimed as he leaned down to her neck, ready to pierce his fangs through her skin when the girl suddenly shook her head.

**_— —_** _"I won't die... just yet."_

Surprised by her sudden change of mind, the vampire pushed himself up again, looking into her hazel orbs. Even though they seemed dull at first, there was still a little shine, a little bit of hope visible in her eyes. "As long as I have hope... I won't die by the hands of anyone other than mine!", she exclaimed with a quiet yet firm and determined voice.

**_— —_** _"So until then... until I don't die by my own decisions and actions..."_

Overwhelmed with her own emotions, tears started running down her face and a faint blush dusted itself on her cheeks from embarrassment that Ruki was seeing her being so emotional.

**_— —_** _"I will keep believing in_ ** _hope_** _, I will keep believing in the_ ** _good_** _deep inside you!"_

The silent whimpers and sobs of the petite female echoed through the dungeon as she closed her eyes, not wanting to see the male for it's embarrassing to her.

Seeing the female still having hope after being robbed of her freedom and being treated so poorly infuriated the male for some reason. Why? Who knows. But he simply couldn't stand her positive mind. His grip around the girl's wrists tightened as he gritted his teeth in anger. "Ouch, you're... hurting me..", Riri whined in between her sobs, opening one eye. The sight of Ruki being so angered — it was the first time for her to see him openly showing some sort of emotion. It was really frightening, actually.

**_— —_** _"Ru... ki..?"_

In less than a split second, she suddenly felt his fangs pierce through her skin really roughly and deeply — more than the few times before. Despite Riri's fear of blood kicking in, she couldn't help but wonder what exactly made him so angry and why. For someone as calm as him to loose his cool — there was definitely _something_ that evoked a strong feeling of anger in him.  
  


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	8. Chapter I . six

**_— —_** _"Ah, I managed to get some sleep."_

Slowly, Riri opened one eye before closing it again, not wanting to see this scenario she's been seeing for way too long now. "Or did I faint again?", she wondered in silence, not too sure about what exactly happened after Ruki bit her so angrily and roughly.

Sighing, she opened both of her eyes since she felt way too uneasy to fall asleep again. Even though some time must have passed since then, she couldn't help but wonder why he got so angry. "What did I do to anger him that much..?", she mumbled under her breath, her hazel orbs focused on the bit of dirt on the floor right in front of her eyes.

Lost in thoughts, her fingers ran over her latest bite marks that still hurt when she touched them while she reflected on Ruki's reaction. It was as if her mind wasn't even on earth anymore that she didn't notice a certain blonde vampire approaching her.

"Hey little kitty~", Kou greeted her in his cheerful manner but received no reaction from her at all. "Heeey, are you ignoring me?", he then asked her with a disappointed undertone. "Ah, K-Kou..?" Finally, the girl snapped out of her dream world and was back to reality. "I wasn't ignoring you, really!", she quickly told him with a slightly panicked expression as she sat up properly, her hazel orbs meeting his sky blue ones. He pouted playfully, leaning against the wall next to him. "You look really sick", he noted just like Yuma did before whereupon Riri simply huffed, looking down again.

A strand of her raven black hair fell down, revealing her bite marks for the blonde to see. It wasn't her intention, just mere coincidence. "Ohhh, your neck is full of bite marks~", Kou said teasingly, leaning down to get a closer look at her neck. "They must be from Ruki, right?", he asked with a mischievous grin on his lips. The female managed to nod lightly with her head as response.

"Geez, those are some deep bite marks though", he noticed quite surprised, squinting his eyes. "Ruki isn't the type of person to be so rough unless you really piss him off, actually", the blonde told her, crossing his hands behind his head as he did so. "R... Really..?"

Kou's words surprised the girl a lot. Her eyes widened as she looked up at the vampire's quite cute face. "Huh? Did that pique your interest?" Her reaction was clearly unexpected for the vampire but knowing what gets her interest now, his lips curved into a smirk as he let out a chuckle that already sounded like nothing but trouble. "Oh, don't tell me you actually liiiike him", he teased her with a smirk. "I call stockholm syndrome~!"

"What, n-no!", she declined, a light blush appearing on her cheeks as she shook her head, waving with her hands in front of her chest dismissively. "It's just surprising to hear that because he... doesn't seem like it", she then told him her honest opinion of the black haired vampire. Kou just chuckled. This smirk of his seemed to never go away. "I know, he can appear reaaaally cold-hearted but he really isn't!", he repeated himself, winking at the female simply out of habit. "But..."

The blonde took Riri by her wrist pulling her up. "If Ruki got a taste of your blood, I want to have one, too", he said, his typical cheerful expression becoming serious, almost scary. "No!", the raven haired girl yelped in fear, pulling her hand out of his grasp. She stumbled back a bit, surprised that she could even free her arm in the first place.

"Ah, how irritating." The vampire's voice was suddenly much more solemn and furious than before. "So you allow Ruki to drink your blood but not me?" He was clearly jealous and angered by the girl's reaction. "That's not true!", the girl disagreed as she slowly backed away from him as much as she could. "I don't want him to drink my blood but he does anyway!", she argued, her back hitting the wall behind her after a few inches already. "But he does anyway, huh", the blonde repeated her words as an idea came to his mind. "If that's so, I'll just have to do the same, right?"

He grabbed her arm again but this time a lot tighter until it was painful for the female, pulling her to him with a lot of force. She stumbled right into his arms, unable to defend herself being held that way. Kou removed her long hair from her neck as he leaned down, examining her skin as if he was an animal exploring their territory. "Ruki put so many bite marks on you, i'm really surprised", he muttered to himself as he opened his mouth widely to bite into her shoulder.

"No, please don't...!", Riri whined, her entire body starting to shake in fear. Knowing that she was loosing blood this exact moment — the thought was just too scary for the girl. "Let go..!", she begged him but he just ignored her, taking some more of her blood. The way she was struggling in his arms was quite entertaining for a vampire as sadistic as he was.

**_— —_** _"Stop it... please..."_  
  


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	9. Chapter I . seven

**_— —_** _"No!"_

It seemed that the girl must have had a bad dream that awoke her from her sleep. Her hand was reaching up to the ceiling as if she tried to grab something but this something wasn't there. Only this grey cell she grew sick and tired of. Sighing, she touched her aching shoulder, remembering that Kou had sucked her blood before she probably fainted. As she tried to remember about their encounter, she also remembered his words about Ruki.

**_— —_** _"Ruki isn't the type of person to be so rough unless you really piss him off, actually."_

That really did make her think. These vampires, maybe they were nicer than they appear to be? As she thought about that, she lowered her arm again, resting it on her forehead. "I keep saying that I won't give up as long as I have hope but... what is my hope..?" She let out a heavy sigh, closing her eyes in an attempt to fall asleep again when she heard footsteps.

"Ru..ki.....?", she assumed without looking since he was the one who visited her the most. "No, it's..... Azusa....", a slow voice spoke up. Surprised, Riri opened her eyes to look at the teal haired male. Looking up close at him, she noticed he had a big scar over his nose, more little ones all over his face and most of his skin was covered in bandages. She hadn't really paid attention to him in detail since he seemed quite creepy at first and she wouldn't want to get in trouble with him but his purple eyes seemed really kind, now that she got a closer look at him.

"Oh, what are you doing here?", the female wondered, blinking in confusion. "I came to... look how you're... doing...", Azusa told her with a decent smile on his lips. The ravenette didn't quite believe him, assuming that Ruki told him to look after her but in the end, she couldn't bring herself to directly ask the teal haired about it.

"So now that you've seen me, are you going to leave me right away?", she questioned with a quiet sigh. Ironically, Riri would love to talk with him some more even though she was initially freaked out by him. "Well..."

Obviously, Azusa's only purpose down there was done, so he had no obligation to stay any longer but upon hearing a loud growl, it didn't seem like he was going to leave. "You must be... hungry... right....?", the male then asked her. Embarrassed, Riri held her stomach with a light blush across her face.

"Oh, right.... I brought you.... food....", the teal haired told her as he pushed a plate with a bit of what seemed to be leftovers on it to her. "Ruki said.... I didn't have to... because... you wouldn't.... eat... but.... maybe you... changed your mind...", he told her quietly, a gentle smile forming on his pale lips.

The ravenette didn't know what to say. His offer was so kind unlike the other three that she felt really bad if she was to turn his offer down in all honesty. With a forced smile, she took the plate yet she only stared at it as if she was in trance. "Thank you very much, Azusa, but... I'm not that hungry, though", she told him with a nervous undertone.

The male remained silent and only nodded in response. "Do you.... enjoy... being in pain...?", he suddenly asked her. His purple eyes showed nothing but absolute seriousness. "N-No, I don't!", she exclaimed immediately and quite confused. "Why would you think that?"

"Starving yourself... you must like... to suffer", he spoke slowly with this smile that seemed to never fade. "No, that's not... true", she still denied, shaking her head lightly as her stomach let out another growl. Her face blushed a bright red in embarrassment once again. Of course, Azusa didn't believe her one bit. He just raised a brow and cocked his head to the side. "You're kind of... like Ruki...", he suddenly stated.

"What?" The girl was clearly confused. Being compared to a supernatural of such cold and inhuman nature surely hurt her. "He... refused to eat, too... just like... you..... right now", the teal haired explained to her slowly. "He refused to... eat..?" His words made no sense without some sort of context. "What do you mean?", the ravenette wanted to know with a curious yet soft-spoken voice.

Azusa hesitated. His purple eyes looked down to the floor for a moment but he quickly focused his gaze on the girl's hazel orbs again. "The four of us... we were... orphans. And... there wasn't enough for everyone... to eat... so... we had to fight.... for food.... but Ruki, he... refused to eat... at first... just like you now...."

Riri remained silent. She bit her lip softly, feeling bad that all four of them had to grow up in an orphanage. Maybe that was why they treated her so badly? But then again, they were generous enough to give her something to eat on a daily basis, so they were actually really kind to her. These thoughts evoked a really strong feeling of guilt inside her that she took the plate and fork and tried to eat at least a little bit of what was given to her. Her hands were shaking terribly from the lack of strength and from the cold, which the male, of course, noticed. "You're... shaking", he noted as he came closer to take the fork from her hand and fed her. "I'll... help you...", he said with a smile as he helped her eat.

However, she soon refused to eat any more because she started to feel sick. She couldn't explain to herself why but the more she ate the more she felt sick, close to throwing up. "Azusa, can I ask you something?", the girl questioned quietly, tilting her head a little. The green haired just nodded in response, patiently waiting for her to pose her question. "You're brothers but not blood related, right? How... did the four of you meet?"

The male seemed hesitant yet he still decided to tell her about it. There was no reason to hide it from her as all of it was in the past now anyway. "We all used to be... humans. Little children... left behind by our parents... growing up in the streets.... but.. We met at the orphanage... Ruki was the one who... brought us together... and really cared about us... like brothers... and he came up with a plan.... to escape that place.. that stole... our freedom... before we......" He paused for a moment and took a deep breath before he continued to speak. "We were caught... and shot down..." A silent gasp escaped the ravenette's pale lips. She couldn't help but starting to feel sympathy towards those four boys – vampires – who had kidnapped her. Stockholm syndrome? Maybe. "But then...", Azusa continued, "this man came... and saved us... he made us into vampires... and we became... brothers..."

Riri was speechless. As much as she wanted to say something — words of pity — she didn't know how to phrase it. So, she just looked down to the floor with a sad expression on her face. "Hey... are you... alright..?", Azusa took note of her sadness and wanted to make sure she wasn't being too sympathetic with them. "Yes, I just... need some time for myself.. I guess", she replied quietly yet gave him a warm and reassuring smile.

"If... you say so", the teal haired murmured as he stood up, brushing the dust off of his clothes. "I need to leave anyway.....", were his last words before he turned his back on her and slowly started to walk away.  
  


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	10. Chapter I . eight

**_— —_** _"I'm... still_ ** _alive_** _..?"_

As if she was in a bad dream, Riri touched the cold floor, then her own face to make sure she this was reality. In all honesty, every single time she opened her eyes again was the most painful thing than anything else. Her entire body was aching and freezing, she felt almost numb. As if she was already dead yet was still forced to breathe.

"You finally woke up", a quite familiar voice spoke which startled the female. It was no one other than Ruki, of course. The raven haired girl simply looked into his dim blue orbs with her own hazel ones As much as she wanted to actually say something, at least a silent "hi" or something of the like, her lips just didn't want to cooperate.

Awkward silence.

"Azusa told me you ate a bit yesterday", the male suddenly spoke up. A light blush of embarrassment crept on Riri's cheeks as she heard that, so she buried her face into her arms. "That's really inconsequent if i must say", he sighed. "I know." To be honest, the ravenette was quite surprised to hear her own voice after quite a while. It was a weird feeling. As if she had become a stranger to herself. The sound of porcelain clattering on the floor made the girl look up from her arms. It was just her daily dose of food.

"Eat up. And I don't want to hear any excuses from you." The girl knew she couldn't defy her own desires for much longer. In the end, she couldn't bring herself to commit suicide just yet. Hesitantly, she took the plate but for a few minutes, she just stared at it with her dull eyes. "Why are you doing.. this?", she asked him once again, hoping that she could get an answer from him now that she was somewhat aware of his past. "Are you doing this... for someone?"

Although not a single name had been dropped, Ruki felt like she knew about their past and as such that it wasn't their own will to keep her locked up in their dungeon. It may be coincidence or it may not but still, a quiet "tsk" noise escaped the male's lips as he put his hands into his pockets. "Yes, we're doing this for someone", Ruki decided to tell her that much, "but that is none of your concern."

"Thank you... Thank you so much!" A sudden feeling of utter joy came to the girl as a bright smile curved itself on her lips. It surely had been a while since the last time she had smiled this happily — and that in a place such as some stranger's dungeon.

The male was visibly confused as to why she thanked him out of the blue. "What are you thanking me for?", he asked rhetorically, raising a brow as his sharp eyes were gazing down on the petite girl. Riri, however, couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle as she sat up properly, still smiling. "Thank you for a clear-ish answer!", she then replied with quite a cheerful voice — the kind of voice she usually spoke in. Her cheerfulness was what defined this raven haired girl after all. It seemed as if her wish for hope was worth it despite still being stuck in this jail. "It's really appreciated, really!"

Ruki on the other hand only shook his head in disbelief. "You're not sane", he sighed as he facepalmed. "I guess so", the girl said almost in a joking manner while this smile of hers seemed to never go away. "But who wouldn't start going insane after being locked up in a dark dungeon for how many days now?"

It became silent again. The vampire was quite surprised that the female could still smile even after being treated so badly. Just how was it possible to stay so positive in a situation that seemed so hopeless? Ruki didn't understand the girl at all. Maybe he didn't even try to understand her, who knows, but her positivity was quite irritating for him.

"Six days", the male responded nonetheless. "You're in there for six days now." Riri's eyes widened in surprise and her mouth was shaped in an o-form before she emitted a rather delighted giggle. "Really?", she wanted to make sure he wasn't lying. He remained silent which she took as a yes. She really did look like a maniac for smiling at the fact that she had been locked away for almost an entire week. "Why are you laughing?", the black haired male questioned, clearly confused and irritated by her quite contradicting reactions. "I'm sorry, it's just... I feel so relieved to know for how long I've been in here", she replied with what seemed to be tears of joy in her eyes. "You really are out of your mind", Ruki stated one more time before he was about to leave again.

"Wait, I have one more question!", Riri called after the black haired, reaching her hand out to grab him by his sleeve. "It's not related to why I'm locked up, I swear!", she added quickly, waiting for his permission to pose her question. The male came to a halt and turned his head so he could just spot her from the corner of his eyes. "My parents... do you know anything about my parent's well-being?"

**_— —_** _"No."_

Ruki seemed hesitant with his reply yet when he did, his words were cold and harsh. He pulled his arm out of Riri's grasp as he walked away with quick steps.  
  


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	11. Chapter I . nine

**_— —_** _"Six days of surviving in a dungeon, this surely is an amazing... but not really necessary achievement."_

The girl let out a sigh as she sat there on the cold floor, her back leaned against the wall, her legs bent and her arms wrapped around them. It didn't seem like anyone was going to come soon, which was weird because based on her daily routine — which only consisted of sleeping for a bit — they usually would come and give her food once she woke up. But there was no sign of any of the brothers. Not even a single footstep.

**_— —_** _"But... it's not like I was actually surviving... It's more like... I'm being kept as a pet... restrained... given food from time to time... like... like_ ** _livestock_** _."_

The sound of water dripping from the ceiling and hitting the floor of stone — she had been watching it all this time that she even noticed a small hole on the grey, solid surface caused by the water drops. She ran a finger over it, though she felt almost nothing. Her fingers were too numb from the low temperature in the dungeon. She felt like as if she would freeze to death soon but at the same time, it wasn't too cold either since the torch in her cell still emitted heat that kept her somewhat warm.

**_— —_** _"But still, they..._ ** _he_** _was kind enough to even provide me with enough food even though I refused."_

Riri sighed yet again as she rested her head on her knees, closing her eyes. Breathing became incredibly difficult, almost as if she forgot how to do something so commonly when she actually thought about the way she inhaled and exhaled the air. Even though she saw nothing but black, somehow the world felt like it was spinning really fast.

**_— —_** _"Then again, he might have kept me alive because I'm important in some way? I don't know how but it is a_ ** _possibility_** _."_

Her head ached. Her arms ached. Her feet ached. Everything hurt when she moved even the tiniest little bit. Whether it was the coldness or the bruises that made every move feel like a burden, she wasn't sure. Whatever it was, nothing could stop her tears from running down her cheeks although she believed that she had run out of this transparent liquid over the time but it seemed that she was proven wrong.

**_— —_** _"On second thought... They're vampires, I'm a human. Maybe I'm nothing but food? Which makes me..._ ** _actual_** _livestock..."_

This situation just seemed so unreal. Like a bad dream that she couldn't wake up from. The raven haired girl couldn't help but wonder — what if this was a dream? A really long dream? Vampires who kept her locked in their dungeon — there was no way this could be real after all, right?

**_— —_** _"Maybe... Maybe I should have taken Ruki's offer to_ ** _death_** _instead of suffering..."_

Thinking back, death seemed like the worst idea. But now — she wasn't sure whether she did the right choice or not and she wasn't usually one to regret her decisions. She could have died peacefully yet she chose to live while suffering. Was that really what she wanted?

**_— —_** _"But I told him I have_ ** _hope_** _... but... what is this hope that I'm looking for? Freedom? Their kindness?"_

She had a clear plan in her head yet at the same time nothing was planned at all. How could she be so naive to believe that she could achieve a change by starving herself? These guys had clearly no sympathy for her at all, so why did she believe to be able to change their minds? Just what did she saw in them that made her have hope? All these questions ran through her mind as she struggled to find a single answer for any of those. She had truly lost all of her hope.

**_— —_** _"Maybe I really should have taken my own life while I was still_ ** _sane_** _..."_  
  


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	12. Chapter I . ten

**_— —_** _"Did you call us here because of the apple of adam plan?"_

It seemed that Ruki had called his brothers Kou, Yuma and Azusa to the living room to have a serious talk. He didn't do that very often, so his brothers knew that there was something important he needed to get off of his chest. The dark haired male nodded his head lightly as he closed the book he was reading and sat up in the chair he sat in. "Are Adam and Eve doing any progress?"

Awkwardly, the four brothers just looked into each other's eyes, all of them having the same unknowing facial expression. After a while, Ruki let out a heavy sigh, breaking the silence. "I'm taking that as a no", he muttered under his breath with a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Hey, I have a suggestion, though", Kou spoke up and crossed his arms behind his head. "What if we let this girl out?"

"Yeah, I've been thinking the same", Yuma added quickly. "I mean, we still need her for the plan to succeed, right?"

There was a dead silence in between question and answer. "You're right, Yuma, but she's doing just fine in the dungeon", was the black haired's reply. His words were harsh and cold yet hesitant. "Ehh, she looks actually pretty sick in my opinion", the blonde contradicted him, raising a brow. "Mhm... she really... does", Azusa intervened, his purple eyes gazing at his older brother.

**_— —_** _"Are you sympathizing with her?"_

Ruki stood up from his seat, his sharp greyish blue eyes were glaring down at his brothers. His expression was cold as ice and there was not a single sign of emotion visible. His brothers fell silent in an instant. They knew they had angered him — his passive aggressive tone always managed to make them shut up.

"But Ruki—" Kou's desperate attempt to convince his brother otherwise was cut off by no one other than Ruki himself. "I don't need your lame excuses", he told him, giving him the cold shoulder. Quite intimidated, the male stepped back, slowly closing his mouth again that he opened to speak. His blue eyes looked at his other two brothers as if he tried to call for help but neither of them knew how to hold a candle against their eldest sibling.

"Now, if you excuse me please", the black haired turned his back on the three of them and exited the room with quick steps. "He's acting... weird", the teal haired mentioned after a while in his typical slow and quiet tone. "Yeah, I agree." Kou nodded and so did Yuma. "Ever since we came to the human world, he's been a lot... stricter than usual. Just for _that_ person."

The three brothers sighed in unison. "Let's try to convince him later the day", Kou suggested to his brothers, putting his hands on his hips. "It's not like I'm worried about that girl but in order to tempt Eve to take the apple, shouldn't the apple be somewhere within Eve's reach?" "That sounds... reasonable...", Azusa commented with a decent smile on his pale lips. "Yeah, let's mention that later."

* * *

It was almost morning — the sky slowly but slowly turned into a quite beautiful, warm orange-red color, signaling that the sun was about to come out. Even though it was time for creatures of the night — such as vampires — to sleep, a certain dark haired vampire stood in their mansion's balcony, watching the sun rise. The sun didn't bother him that much for he used to be a human yet the light was blinding him. Former human or not — he was a vampire, a real vampire in the present.

He seemed rather lost in thoughts until he heard faint footsteps approaching him. "Oh, Ruki, you're still up?", a quite cheerful voice said. "Yes, but why are you still awake, Kou?", the male questioned as he turned his head to face the blond vampire. His gaze was still cold and intimidating but he seemed to have calmed down, at least a little bit.

"I have idol stuff to do", he explained with a smile on his lips, followed by a heavy sigh. "I'm glad I came across you, though", he added quickly as he positioned himself beside his older brother, leaning against the balcony's fence. "I wanted to talk about that girl."

Ruki's expression tensed up upon the mentioning of her. He surely wasn't in the mood to talk about that but knowing his brother, he wouldn't stop bothering him until he gave his little sibling a clear answer. Even though his answer was quite clear already in his opinion. "Are you still sympathizing with h—"

To his surprise, Kou dared to cut his sentence off. "No, that's not it!", he protested and crossed his arms in front of his chest. His sky blue eyes showed nothing but seriousness. A chuckle escaped Ruki's lips as he straightened his posture, putting a hand on his hip while running his other hand through his black, ruffled hair. "You think in order for Eve to take apple, the apple should be in her reach, don't you?", he mentioned calmly as ever. "Wait, you heard me back then, didn't you?", the blonde pouted.

The dark haired male gave no reply but let out a silent sigh before looking his brother into his eyes, sternly but somehow friendly. "You do have a point", were his only words before he stepped away from the balcony, giving Kou a quick wave before disappearing behind the mansion's walls. "Heey, where are you going now?", he asked him a little bit irritated but Ruki just laughed to himself, shrugging it off.

**_— —_** _"You said it yourself — the apple should be within Eve's reach, no?"_  
  


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